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LearnWithAR: Intro to Electromagnetism

WWDC20 Swift Student Challenge Submission

by JOSE ADOLFO TALACTAC

As a STEM student, I observed that my peers and I often experience difficulties comprehending and visualizing some Physics concepts as these concepts may be either very abstract or mathematical in nature. Thus, I set my sights on addressing this very issue by creating LearnWithAR: Intro to Electromagnetism. LearnWithAR is an educational Swift Playground which covers key concepts in electromagnetism through the use of interactive augmented reality scenes. The use of Playgrounds and augmented reality produced an intuitive interface that bodes well with the dynamics of studying Physics.

LearnWithAR utilizes UIKit, ARKit, SceneKit, PlaygroundSupport, SpriteKit, and simd frameworks. ARKit allowed LearnWithAR to have performant and stunning augmented reality scenes by leveraging the iPad’s powerful chip and camera. The use of SceneKit’s built-in geometries made the Playgrounds compact, in terms of file size. The simd framework aided in the efficient computation of vectors in the electric field scenes.

LearnWithAR tackles three electromagnetism topics: electric charges, Coulomb’s law, and electric fields. LearnWithAR can be experienced in under 3 minutes; however, if a student wishes to go more in-depth, they can take more time in the interactive aspects of the Playground. The concept of electric charges through the use of an atomic model, allowing the student to “create” their own atom with its own charge. Coulomb’s law is also explained through the use of two atomic models. The student can see how Coulomb’s law play into action, by freely changing the distances of these models in the AR space or by changing the values of the charges. The electric field scenes demonstrates how charges interact within a 2D space they are present in. The student can place the charges wherever they wish and experiment with the value of the charges.

The LearnWithAR Playground is a proof that augmented reality can and will play a vital role in the education sector. Students and educators will appreciate the use of augmented reality technologies to enhance the classroom experience, especially in teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

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